Sure, I'll Join Your Cult

A character joins a cult, and the rest of the gang tries to get them out of it.

What's Happening!!

Appearances

• Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman: Season 2, episode 62 (1976). After disappearing while walking around the car to open the door for Martha, George finally returns as a member of a cult called the "Boga Zidi," and he's planning to move away to their compound. Desperate not to lose him again, Martha consults Reverend Standfast, who refers her to a deprogrammer.
• Barney Miller: Season 3, episode 16, "Abducted" (1977). A couple asks the cops for help rescuing their daughter from a cult/organic restaurant. When Barney explains that he can't help them, they try to abduct their daughter from the cult and get arrested.
• Welcome Back, Kotter: Season 3, episode 7, "The Deprogramming of Arnold Horshack" (1977). Horshack joins the cult of Baba Bibi, and when his friends make fun of him, he decides to drop out of school and live with the cult.
• What's Happening!!: Season 2, episode 18, "Rerun Sees the Light" (1978). A con artist convinces Rerun to join a fake cult that worships a head of lettuce called Ralph so she can extort money from him.
• Soap: Season 2, episode 22 (1979). A beautiful former classmate convinces Billy to join a cult called the Sunnies, but Billy realizes something's up and tries to leave, prompting the cult to hold him prisoner and brainwash him.
• Mork & Mindy: Season 4, episode 9, "Alienation" (1981). When Mork and Mindy tell Mearth that he's part alien, he feels so alone and isolated that he runs away and joins a cult called the Utopians.
• The Simpsons: Season 9, episode 13, "The Joy of Sect" (1998). Homer meets some members of a cult called the "Movementarians" at the airport, and their promise of a free weekend getaway lures him to join them. He ends up handing over their house and all their money and moves Marge and the kids to their compound. The kids jump on board, but Marge isn't fooled, and she recruits Rev. Lovejoy, Groundskeeper Willie, and Ned Flanders to help de-program the rest of the family.
• Malcolm in the Middle: Season 2, episode 10, "The Bully" (2000). When Reese loses a wrestling match to a girl, he loses his enthusiasm for being a bully and starts searching for his place in the world, which leads him to join a cult led by "Brother Billy," a guy who drives around the neighborhood in an ol school bus, handing out manifestos.
• Peep Show: Season 5, episode 6, "Mark's Women" (2008). Jeremy and Super Hans take a "personality test" at a place called "The New Wellness Center" for a laugh, and end up joining them. Jeremy shows Mark the book they gave him and tells him about "the seven sacred truths from the golden tablets found in the asteroid which crashed in Siberia in 1911," Mark realizes right away that it's a cult, and he tries to talk him out of going to live at the center.
• The IT Crowd: Season 4, episode 3, "Something Happened" (2010). Douglas goes on vacation and meets a self-styled guru who convinces him to join his "spaceology" cult, that promotes "space star ordering," a belief that the stars can help people make all their wishes come true.